David Anderson was born in Victoria, British Columbia and grew up attending Victoria High School. He attended Victoria College (predecessor of the University of British Columbia) for two years before enrolling at the University of British Columbia to finish a degree in Law. While at UBC he was a member of the Thunderbirds rowing crew. Rowing with the Canadian Men's Eights crew at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago he won a silver medal, an accomplishment he would repeat a year later at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
After graduating from UBC, Anderson worked for 6 years with the Canadian Foreign Service. During this time he spent eighteen monthes in Indochina and 3 years as a Government Trade Commissioner in Hong Kong. He left the foreign service in 1968 to run in riding of Esquimalt-Saanich for the federal liberal party. He was successfully elected and founded the House of Commons Committee on Environmental Pollution, becoming its first Chair.
He resigned his house of commons seat in 1972 to take leadership of the provincial Liberal Party in British Columbia. He was elected to the legislature to represent Victoria, but was defeated in the next election. He spent the next 17 years as an environmental consultant as well as teaching at the University of Victoria.
In 1992, Mr. Anderson was asked by Jean Chretian to run again for the House of Commons in the 1993 election. Anderson agreed and he was elected to represent Victoria, and appointed to Chretian's cabinet as Minister of National Revenue, and later as Minister of Transport. Following his re-election in 1997 he became Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and then in 1999 Minster of the Environment. He became Canada's longest serving Minister of Environment after 5 years in the post, and in the role ensured Canada's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and the passage of the Species at Risk Act.
Anderson did not seek election in 2006, and retired to Victoria, where he continued to advocate for the environment. He enjoys the outdoors in his spare time, especially fishing, kayaking, and hiking. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010.